{ "format": "openproof-fictional-case-v1", "version": "2026-09-16", "language": "en", "fictional": true, "production_engine_output": false, "title": "They had built the business together. Now one of them is being asked to answer for its losses.", "narrative": { "summary": "A broad claim against a cofounder is broken down into decisions, authority, warnings, alleged losses and open questions. Both supporting and adverse elements remain visible.", "story": [ "There were three of them. Each brought something the others did not: expertise, customers, the ability to organise and grow the business. They put time, money and part of their future into the same venture.", "At first, decisions rested on trust. Roles evolved as needs changed. Some responsibilities were written down; others took shape as urgent problems arose.", "Then results deteriorated. Disagreements over spending and priorities became personal. Each began counting what they had contributed, what they had sacrificed and what the others owed them.", "Two founders eventually ask the third to leave. They blame him for excessive spending, lost customers and delays. A substantial financial claim accompanies these allegations.", "He remembers decisions discussed together, investments approved and difficulties reported. He accepts that he may have made mistakes. But he cannot understand how he could be held responsible for all of it.", "His place in the business, the value of his shares, his reputation and his personal finances are now at stake.", "He must respond to an account that gathers several years of business activity under one accusation. For each allegation, someone needs to recover who knew what, who decided, what resources were available and what actually happened next.", "Their shared history has become a dispute over each person’s responsibility." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "S01", "date": "2024-01-08", "title": "Allocation of roles", "excerpt": "The third founder coordinates operations. Budgets and major commercial commitments are submitted to all three founders.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S02", "date": "2025-01-10", "title": "Investment minutes", "excerpt": "All three founders approve an investment capped at €120,000. A monthly update must flag any risk of overspending.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S03", "date": "2025-06-30", "title": "Spending schedule", "excerpt": "Spending attributed to the investment totals €180,000, including €60,000 above the original budget. Supporting records for each line still need to be reconciled.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S04", "date": "2025-05-14", "title": "Message from the founder facing the claim", "excerpt": "I should have flagged the risk of overspending sooner. I was waiting for the final quotations.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S05", "date": "2025-06-03", "title": "Customer message", "excerpt": "We are stopping the project: delays played a part, but our internal change of direction also contributed to this decision.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S06", "date": "2025-05-05", "title": "Change to approval authority", "excerpt": "From 5 May, new spending and recruitment require approval from the other two founders. The third retains operational coordination.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S07", "date": "2025-09-02", "title": "Handover record", "excerpt": "Access and the tracking sheet have been handed over. Two customer files remain incomplete; their contents need completing and receipt must be confirmed.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" }, { "id": "S08", "date": "2025-09-15", "title": "Claim presented by two founders", "excerpt": "We claim €480,000: €180,000 in spending, €200,000 in lost revenue and €100,000 for disruption. These losses are attributed to the third founder.", "status": "FICTIONAL_PREWRITTEN" } ], "review": [ { "allegation": "Excessive spending", "question": "€180,000 claimed. Was the investment decision made alone?", "source_ids": [ "S02", "S03", "S04" ], "observation": "All three approved a €120,000 budget. A €60,000 overrun and a late warning still need examining.", "open_question": "Reconcile invoices, approvals and warning dates. Distinguish money spent, overspending and alleged loss." }, { "allegation": "Lost customers and revenue", "question": "€200,000 claimed. Can every customer departure be attributed to him?", "source_ids": [ "S01", "S05", "S08" ], "observation": "One customer mentions both delays and an internal change. This message covers neither every customer nor the whole period.", "open_question": "Examine commitments, dates and other causes for each customer. The revenue figure alone does not establish the amount of loss." }, { "allegation": "Unfulfilled responsibilities", "question": "Was he expected to deliver without all the necessary resources?", "source_ids": [ "S01", "S06" ], "observation": "He retains operational coordination after some approval powers are withdrawn. This alone does not establish that he was unable to act.", "open_question": "Date requests for resources, the other founders’ decisions, refusals and their effects. Retain any shortcomings that remain personal." }, { "allegation": "Departure and disruption", "question": "€100,000 claimed. What preceded the breakup and what resulted from his departure?", "source_ids": [ "S06", "S07", "S08" ], "observation": "A partial handover is recorded. Two incomplete files are also an adverse point for the founder.", "open_question": "Check what was handed over, remaining duties, receipt and the concrete consequences of each missing item." }, { "allegation": "Total amount and attribution", "question": "Who claims what, from whom, and on what documentary basis?", "source_ids": [ "S03", "S05", "S07", "S08" ], "observation": "The three stated amounts total €480,000. This is the fictional claim, not an established debt or loss.", "open_question": "Identify the claimant and beneficiary of each item, its calculation, causal connection and possible double counting. Professional assessment remains necessary." } ], "claimed_amounts": { "currency": "EUR", "spending": 180000, "lost_revenue": 200000, "disruption": 100000, "total": 480000, "status": "FICTIONAL_CLAIM_NOT_ESTABLISHED_LOSS" }, "limits": "People, dates, amounts, excerpts and findings invented to explain the method. No real case, original evidence, automated analysis or legal conclusion.", "context_review": [ { "axis": "Business economics", "question": "Who bears the costs, who receives the revenue and how does cash flow deteriorate?", "source_ids": [ "S03", "S08" ], "observation": "The spending schedule and claim provide figures, but no complete accounts. They do not establish how the losses arose.", "missing": "Obtain the allocation of costs, revenue, margins, cash flow and transfers between any entities involved." }, { "axis": "Actual authority", "question": "Who could decide, commit spending, recruit or block a decision?", "source_ids": [ "S01", "S02", "S06" ], "observation": "Assigned roles, collective investment approval and later restrictions on approvals are separate matters. A director’s title alone does not describe each person’s acts.", "missing": "Match actual signatures, approvals and decisions to their dates and authors." }, { "axis": "Prior situation", "question": "Which delays, weaknesses or commitments existed before the breakup and before each disputed decision?", "source_ids": [ "S03", "S05" ], "observation": "The excerpts provide no complete financial and operational baseline before the tensions. Earlier conditions remain undetermined.", "missing": "Reconstruct a comparable baseline. An earlier difficulty does not rule out later aggravation; later deterioration alone does not identify who caused it." }, { "axis": "Conditions for carrying out the role", "question": "What resources, information and opportunities to act did each person actually have?", "source_ids": [ "S04", "S06" ], "observation": "A late warning is acknowledged and some authority was withdrawn. The connection between these elements and each alleged loss still needs examination.", "missing": "Date requests for resources, responses, constraints and remaining options. Distinguish a real constraint from an individual shortcoming." }, { "axis": "Escalation into conflict", "question": "How does a management disagreement become a founder’s departure and then a financial claim?", "source_ids": [ "S06", "S07", "S08" ], "observation": "Restrictions on authority, partial handover and the claim are dated. These excerpts alone do not establish the reasons for the breakup or the intervening exchanges.", "missing": "Recover the decisions and exchanges connecting the stages, without attributing intent or treating a sequence of dates as proof of causation." } ], "method_limit": "Reconstruct the sequence and test hypotheses, including those favourable to the founder. Earlier conditions or a sequence of dates alone do not establish causation." }